Teenage Violinist Sofia Demetriades Wins BBC Young Musician 2026 in First All-Female Final

Teenage violinist Sofia Demetriades has won the BBC Young Musician competition 2026, in the first all-female final in the competition's 48-year history.

The judges, Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen, hailed Demetriades's performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity.

The 18-year-old is from Leicestershire and is in her first year of undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music.

The biennial competition, the brainchild of Humphrey Burton, was set up in 1978 and has produced finalists such as Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Alison Balsom and Stephen Hough. Nicola Benedetti, in 2004, was the last violinist to win before Demetriades.

Demetriades was one of several hundred to send in a video application, before 40 young players were selected to attend live auditions at Bath Spa University to gain one of eight places in the quarter-finals, which took place on her 18th birthday. Among her fellow quarter-finalists was the first accordion player to reach the final stages, 14-year-old Sylvester Maschi.

Each of the three finalists performed a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, in a concert at Bristol Beacon. Eighteen-year-old saxophone player Kezia Colton performed Takashi Yoshimatsu's 1994 Cyber Bird Saxophone Concerto, while 17-year-old recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni played Graham Fitkin's Recorder Concerto.

Fitkin's concerto involves six different recorders, ranging from the giant contrabass, about 1.6 metres high, to the tiniest sopranino. It was originally commissioned by Debretzeni's teacher, Barbara Law, and was premiered in 2017 by 2014 finalist Sophie Westbrooke. There was a further connection this year: 2022's overall winner, percussionist Jordan Ashman, joined Colton onstage for Yoshimatsu's concerto.

Wallen said Colton plays with incredible verve and spirit, while Gernon called her performance sassy and cool, adding that her more intimate playing is incredibly strong too. The judges hailed the electricity, aliveness and beautiful intensity Debretzeni brought to Fitkin's concerto; Wallen said she took the audience on a musical journey, inside every note.

Debretzeni said that before the competition she had not planned on being a musician and wanted to study psychology, but the experience had been so inspiring it made her want to pursue music — literally life-changing, in her words.

MacGregor acclaimed Demetriades as a simply extraordinary musician who performs with her eyes, achieving dizzying technical feats while looking as if she is enjoying it. She said Demetriades's innate sense of colour, musical style and architecture combines with an effortless technique and a joy for whatever music she is playing, and that her sensitivity and sophistication stood out in every round.

The winner receives the trophy, a cash prize of £3,000 towards music studies and recording and broadcast opportunities on Radio 3, including with one of the BBC ensembles. All three finalists will work with the Young Classical Artists Trust on managing their future careers.

Demetriades said she was honoured and thrilled to have been part of BBC Young Musician. She loved playing in the quarter-final on her 18th birthday and did not think she could top that, but being crowned winner was her absolute dream; it was pure delight to share the stage with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Alpesh Chauhan and her fellow finalists. The final and the three previous stages are available on BBC iPlayer.